City of Carson Utility Users Tax, Measure A (March 2015)
| Voting on taxes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
| Ballot measures | ||||||||
| By state | ||||||||
| By year | ||||||||
| Not on ballot | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Measure info Amount: 2% continuation |
A utility users tax measure was on the ballot for Carson city voters in Los Angeles County, California, on March 3, 2015. It was defeated.
Measure A would have authorized the city to extend its 2 percent utility tax on electricity and gas. Measure A was also designed to include water, cable television and telephone services under the 2 percent tax, increasing the city's revenue.[1]
The 2 percent utility tax on electricity and gas was originally approved in 2009 under the name Measure C and was set to expire in 2016.
City officials reported that, as of 2015, this tax had generated between $6 million and $8 million in revenue for the city since its approval in 2009. The city did not release an estimate on how much the revenue would be increased by the inclusion of water, tv and telephone utilities under the tax.[2]
The businesses that provided the most revenue according to this utility tax in the past were the BP Carson and ConocoPhillips oil refineries.[2]
Election results
| City of Carson, Measure A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 4,683 | 52.4% | ||
| Yes | 4,257 | 47.6% | ||
- Election results from Carson City Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The question on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
Shall Ordinance 14-1544 be adopted extending the 2% Utility Users' Tax on electricity & gas, and adding water, cable, telephone & cellular utilities to continue essential services, including police, park enforcement teams, gang intervention, youth recreation programs, graffiti removal, Meals on Wheels, senior programs & stroke recovery, sidewalk & street repair, city special events, staffing parks, and addressing blight caused by loss of redevelopment revenue, while exempting senior and low-income households?[3] |
” |
Support
Council Member Lula Davis-Holmes, referring to the intended uses of the increased tax revenue and the included senor and low-income exemptions, said, “I want to keep reminding people that these are some of the components they wanted to keep in place — senior programs, youth programs. And seniors and low-income residents aren’t affected.”[2]
Opposition
Councilman Mike Gipson, who was the sole dissenter when the council voted to put this measure before voters, argued that the city should have simply asked to extend the same tax, without adding the additional utilities. Gipson said, “I’m of the mind that we should certainly exclude (cable). I’d rather just move forward with what voters are accustomed to doing.”[2]
Path to the ballot
The Carson city council members voted four-against-one to put Measure A on the ballot, with Council Member Mike Gipson as the sole dissenter.[2]
Related measures
City of Carson Utility User Tax, Measure C (March 2009)
See also
- California Utility User Taxes
- Utility users tax
- City tax on the ballot
- Local utility tax and fees on the ballot
- Los Angeles County, California ballot measures
- March 3, 2015 ballot measures in California
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Smart Voter, "Carson Measure A Information," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Daily Breeze, "Carson will ask voters in March to extend utility-users’ tax," October 22, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| |||||
